The CFMEU says it will organise national protests and work stoppages in coming weeks with support from other unions and the ACTU to protest the return of the ABCC and the accelerated implementation of the 2016 national construction code.
The Turnbull Government has won support for an earlier start for the tougher national construction code, after a dramatic about-face by crossbench Senator Derryn Hinch.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared that energy will be the "defining debate" of the coming Federal parliament, rather than further promised IR changes and other new legislation.
Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross has revealed he has asked the Abbott and Turnbull governments four times to clarify its plans for the stymied review of default superannuation funds.
Former workplace relations minister and prime minister Julia Gillard, AMMA chief executive Steve Knott, FWC member Leigh Johns, and NSW public servant Peter Riordan have been recognised for the contributions to IR in the Australia Day Honours.
Rio Tinto has agreed to sell its NSW coal interests – including the Coal & Allied operations that were at the centre of the late 1990s battle of the IR "titans" – to Chinese interests for $3.2 billion ($US2.45 billion).
Tensions in the senior ranks of the FWC have again entered the public domain with the resignation of Vice President Graeme Watson, effective from the end of next month.
Australia's two biggest employer groups have joined forces with the ACTU to ask the Turnbull Government to scrap mandatory four-yearly reviews of awards.
The CPSU and Department of Border Protection return to the FWC next week for conciliation of their draft workplace determination, while employees of three APS agencies have again rejected offers.
